Police: Oregon mall shooter used stolen rifle (+video)

This combo made from undated photos released by the Clackamas County Sheriff's Dept. shows Oregon mall shooting victims shows Steven Mathew Forsyth, 45, of West Linn, Ore., left, and Cindy Ann Yuille, 54, of Portland, Ore. The gunman who killed two people and himself in a shooting rampage on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 was 22 years old and used a stolen rifle from someone he knew, authorities said Wednesday.

Clackamas County Sheriff's Dept., Associated Press

Summary

Gunfire rang out in the mall food court, instantly transforming a casual afternoon of holiday shopping into a nightmare. The shooter, armed with a rifle, was dressed in dark clothing and wore a hockey-style face mask.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Gunfire rang out in the mall food court, instantly transforming a casual afternoon of holiday shopping into a nightmare. The shooter, armed with a rifle, was dressed in dark clothing and wore a hockey-style face mask.

As panicked shoppers fled for cover, workers ushered some into hiding places within stores, or helped them to the exits. The first officers to arrive formed groups and rushed into the chaos, rather than waiting for the more heavily armed SWAT team.

"If we would have run out, we would have ran right into it," said Kaelynn Keelin, who saw a window get shot out and, along with other Made In Oregon co-workers, pulled customers into the store for shelter.

The quick mobilization of mall workers and police reflects the reality that, while mass shootings are rare, they have forced authorities to rehearse for such outbreaks of violence as if they are the norm.

"This could have been much, much worse," Clackamas County Sheriff Craig Roberts said.

Roughly 10,000 people were inside the Clackamas Town Center on Tuesday afternoon, when police say Jacob Tyler Roberts, 22, armed himself with an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle he stole from someone he knew, and went on a rampage that left two people dead.

The sheriff said the rifle jammed during the attack, but the shooter managed to get it working again. He later shot himself. The sheriff and Roberts are not related.

As authorities tried to determine a motive for a shooting they said had no specific targets, details emerged about Roberts from acquaintances and neighbors. They described him as relaxed, friendly and outgoing.

"Jake was never the violent type," Roberts' ex-girlfriend, Hannah Patricia Sansburn, told ABC News. "His main goal was to make you laugh, smile, make you feel comfortable. You can't reconcile the differences. I hate him for what he did, but I can't hate the person I knew because it was nothing like the person who would go into a mall and go on a rampage."

Sansburn said Roberts had recently quit his job at a gyro shop in Portland and sold all of his belongings, telling her that he was moving to Hawaii. He was supposed to take a flight Saturday but told her he got drunk and missed it.

"And then this happens. ... It makes me think, was he even planning on going to Hawaii?" Sansburn said.

A former neighbor of Roberts said that he liked to play video games and never seemed troubled.

"He was like a rapper. He would rap all the time," said Samantha Bennett, who said she went to middle school with Roberts but wasn't close to him until he moved in with a girlfriend across the hall from her at an apartment complex in summer 2011.

His dining room was decorated like a jungle, Bennett said, with vines on the walls and a monkey. He once showed her a black handgun that she believed he purchased legally. He dropped out of sight earlier this year, and his phone was disconnected, she said.

Roberts rented a basement room in a modest, single-story Portland home and hadn't lived there long, said a neighbor, Bobbi Bates. She said she saw him leave at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday wearing a dark jacket and jeans, carrying a guitar case.

Roberts had several fully loaded magazines when he arrived at the mall, the sheriff said. He parked his 1996 green Volkswagen Jetta in front of the second-floor entrance to Macy's and walked through the store into the mall and began firing randomly in the food court.

On average, there are about 20 mass murders every year, and the trend has been steady since the 1970s, said James Alan Fox, a professor of criminology at Northeastern University in Boston and author of five books on mass murder.

Popular Comments

I agree totally with the notion that we need to be able to defend ourselves.
Why legislate laws so only criminals have the guns. We must be able to defend
ourselves. If someone comes into my home I need to be able to defend myself.
Do I need to
More..

6:17 p.m. Dec. 12, 2012

Top comment

Brave Sir Robin

San Diego, CA

@one old man

"The Second Amendment does not need to be scrapped.
Just find ways to effectively screen potential gun buyers..."

Did
you even read the article? It says the shooter STOLE the gun. He didn't
buy it.

1:12 p.m. Dec. 12, 2012

Top comment

one old man

Ogden, UT

Yes, I read it. But are assault weapons needed by anyone other than the
military? Screening is just one of many things we need to do when it comes to
possession of weapons capable of mass destruction.